When Sarah awoke the next morning she remembered nothing of the unfortunate wish she had made before falling asleep. She heaved herself out of bed after debating whether or not to perhaps stay there for the next hour or so. She stumbled slightly as she went over to check herself in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, although that was hardly surprising, and her eyes were heavy with sleep. She wiped at them absently before glancing around for her hair brush. Her eyes skimmed over the chess board that was still sitting atop her desk and then doubled back when she noticed something amiss. Or not amiss in fact.

Sarah blinked slowly in order to clear her head and puzzled at the sudden appearance of the white king on the board. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had not been there the night before. "Where on earth did you come from?" she asked the small wooden figure. The easiest possible explanation was that either her father or Karen had found it in the kitchen and returned it to her while she slept, although of the two she was more likely to believe the act of kindest of her father rather than her stepmother. She smiled absently as she picked the piece up to look at it more closely. It was indeed the king who had previously not been in attendance of his court. Pleased that the piece had been returned to her, no matter who had done so, she placed it back down and then reached for her dressing-gown. She felt like having a lazy day today and so went down to breakfast still dressed in her pyjamas.

Her father was sitting at the table again with Toby positioned next to him in his highchair. Karen was busy searching for something, reaching into various cupboards and coming out empty. Sarah murmured her good mornings and then slid herself into the seat that was next to Toby but one knowing that Karen would occupy that spot. She reached for a bowl that had been laid out for her and poured herself some cereal. She had just started eating when Toby decided he was finished and confirmed this decision with the act of throwing his spoon on the floor and thrusting his hands into his stodgy looking breakfast. Apparently he seemed to enjoy this because he then pulled his hands out and started giggling contently smacking his palms together and sending flecks of porridge all over the table. Karen had been about to sit down to her own breakfast when this took place and she put her plans on hold while she lifted Toby out of his seat and took him over to the sink to be cleaned up.

Sarah could hear her stepmother quietly berating her son while she rubbed at him with a wet cloth and she glanced up at the father who was smiling behind a well placed hand. Sarah nearly choked on her cereal and Robert gave her a teasing look. Karen glanced over at the two of them but was then distracted when her son pushed his still sticky hands into her face. The two seated at the table again had to smother their laughter and with a tremendous effort managed to both put on a straight face but their eyes still sparkled mischief. It put Robert in mind of similar occasions when he and his daughter had been younger and they had been silently reprimanded by a different pair of female eyes. This thought sobered him considerably but then made him think of the tradition they tried to revive only yesterday from that previous time.

"Oh Sarah," he remarked. "I never did tell you how sorry I was for not being able to carry on our game yesterday."

Sarah glanced up and smiled at her father but had to finish her mouthful before she could answer. "Don't worry about it daddy, you were busy, I understand that. Maybe another time?"

"Definitely," her father confirmed with as much certainty as he could muster. There was a slight pause and then a thought seemed to occur to him. "Did you manage to find all the pieces after our little trouble maker knocked them for six?"

Sarah thought her father was perhaps hinting at her and so followed his lead. "Not at first. Last night I was missing the white king but I have it now."

"Oh good," Robert replied, nodding his thanks to Karen as she silently placed a cup of coffee in front of him. "You found it then?" he asked, stirring two teaspoons of sugar into his morning concoction.

Sarah frowned faintly. "Erm, well not exactly, it sort of just appeared." Her father didn't answer her as he had raised his mug to his lips and was taking a well needed swig; instead his simply raised his eyebrows in question. "I'm not entirely sure where it came from," Sarah admitted. "I thought maybe you...?" she trailed off when her father showed no signs of recognition. "Or perhaps Karen...?" Sarah turned to her stepmother who glanced up just long enough to shake her head while trying to restrain Toby's wandering hands. Now Sarah was thoroughly confused and paused in eating her cereal. Robert glanced at her with concern but relaxed when he saw her visibly shake off whatever had been plaguing her mind. However it did seem like she was no longer in the mood to eat and so excused herself from the table and said she was going to go and have a shower.

Sarah left the kitchen and went upstairs to her bedroom to gather up all the stuff she needed. She stopped in front of the chess board which she vaguely realised that she had set up directly in front of the mirror and frowned for a moment. She started down at the white king and repeated the question she had asked of it before. "Where did you come from?" She then sighed and forced herself to dismiss the entire situation while she went and took a shower.


Sarah spent a good 15-20 minutes in the shower trying not to contemplate on the reasons as to why. She finally got out when her fingers had started to prune and her feet had turned a rather unhealthy shade of red. Reaching for a towel she stepped out and wrapped it hastily around her body. She then just stood there for a while letting her mind drift. She only returned herself to the present when she realised that the heated air was becoming uncomfortably stifling. All the windows were closed and the vapour had yet to disappear completely.

She walked over to the door and placed a hand on the knob when she felt her heart freeze in her chest. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the mirror that she had walked past without a moment's notice. She now turned towards it and let out an involuntary cry. There was writing on the misted surface. Not the kind of writing that is made with a clumsy finger but instead an elegant cursive type of font, unnatural in its perfection. Sarah's back was up against the door and her hands were clutching at the towel while her blood was racing through her veins. It read:

'Every player needs a king Sarah'

Sarah's mind flashed to the board that was laid out on her desk as she reached for the door handle and threw the portal open, practically tripping out into the hallway. She rushed into her room and over to the set she had herself arranged the night before. With no attempt at being careful she picked out the box and swept all the pieces into it, placing the board haphazardly on top. She then dumped the entire lot into the drawer from which she had retrieved it yesterday and slammed it shut with her foot.

Trembling Sarah collapsed on her bed and curled herself into a ball, not seeming to care that she was still wrapped in a towel. For a long while she lay there, her mind trying to move in several directions at once. Finally she settled on one solid thought and she forced herself into a sitting position. Her eyes fell on the drawer that held the now almost dreaded chess set and grim line of determination settled on her face. She would not be beaten. She would not let anyone play games with her like this. She refused to acknowledge who she knewto behind this 'prank' and so instead just generalised the situation. Sarah Williams would not allow anyone to intimidate her and she would not back down. That was final.

With that in mind Sarah got dressed, brushed her hair and went downstairs thinking now would perhaps be a good time to take Merlin for a walk.


Sarah didn't return to her room for the rest of her day, finding various ways to keep herself occupied. She even volunteered to help Karen make dinner and was given the task of peeling potatoes. She played with Toby and tried to help her father with his crossword, albeit it somewhat unsuccessfully. Being a school night Sarah's bedtime came around a lot earlier than she would have wished but she bore it with a stoic expression even if she did perhaps linger a little longer to say goodnight to father and took extra care not to wake Toby when she went in to check he was tucked in properly. Finally Karen had had enough and told Sarah that while she appreciated her efforts to say goodnight she really ought to go to bed.

Sarah trudged upstairs but never once let her apprehension show. She opened the door to her room and flicked on the light. Her eyes did a quick scan and thankfully found nothing out of the ordinary. Sarah heaved a quiet sigh of relief, quickly got changed and then hopped into the bathroom to brush her teeth. There was nothing out of place in the bathroom either but she couldn't quite help the few nervous glances she cast in the direction of the mirror. Luckily, the writing seemed to have vanished; without leaving behind a single trace.

Back in the hallway Sarah noticed that her bedroom light had been turned off. Sarah knew that she had not been the one to turn it off and despite the knowledge that Karen was occasionally in the habit of doing so she couldn't help the tiny shiver that crept its way up her spine. With a cautious hand she reached in and felt for the light switch. When the light illuminated the room she could not honestly say she was completely surprised to find her chess set laid out perfectly on the table, the black pieces placed in front of her chair and the white placed in front of the mirror. Of course she jumped instinctively and her pulse began to beat faster as her eyes nervously searched the room. Yet she was not so completely surprised, on some level she had almost expected it.

Cautiously she walked her way over to her desk, her eyes drawn to the mirror rather than the game positioned as if ready for a game to begin. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. There was a small voice nagging at the back of her head and with a not so steady hand she reached out and warily brushed her fingers against the cool reflective surface. For a brief moment nothing happened, then the mirror seemed to ripple almost and Sarah hastily withdrew her hand as an italic style script appeared, as if it were being written.

'Don't you want to play Sarah?'

The girl didn't move, rooted to the spot. She then glanced down at the waiting chess pieces and repeated the action she had done that very morning. She scooped up the entire set and put it back into the drawer. Sarah looked to the mirror just in time to see the writing slowly fade away. With that gone she felt more confident, she lifted her chin and said quite clearly: "Not with you I don't." Of course she would never admit to whom she was speaking, instead she walked over to the light switch, turned it off and then climbed into bed, firmly closing her eyes.

Oh Sarah did you really think it would be that easy? Nothing is ever that easy, especially when it comes to playing games. Some people find it hard to lose.


Woo! How's that for a fast update. Can't say that they're always going to be this fast because they won't, seriously don't get your hopes up.

My my, this really is turning into a much longer piece than I thought it would be, oh well.

Special thanks go out to CoffeeKris,NotElven and notwritten for being the first to review.